Disaster Risk Management For Coastal Tourism Destinations - DTIE

4
Managing Disaster Risks
At Coastal Tourism
Destinations: Community
Organization, Risk
Assessment and Evaluation
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4.1
Introduction
The previous Chapter discussed disaster and risk management frameworks at
the international, regional and country levels. Chapter 4 provides guidance on
communities. The principle espoused here is that effective disaster response occurs
at the local level.
It is important to remind Handbook users that as discussed in Chapter 3, the tourism
industry requires seamless interface and interaction with all other productive and
service sectors at the destination e.g. agriculture, utilities, transportation, health,
however, is typically a challenge.
Compounding these challenges are the demographic peculiarities of any coastal
periods of high vs. low season volume of tourists; accommodation types,
operators (i.e. ground transportation), their degree of organization and the history
of collaboration and participation of these groups in national disaster planning and
response. As recent disaster events have shown, whilst the hotel sector is relatively
resilient and can recover quickly, recovery across the destination in terms of utility
services, housing, labour and the supply chain, often lags behind.
Managing risks of climate-induced disasters at tourism destinations is therefore
contingent upon the overall capability and experience of the tourism value chain
and its willingness to contribute to disaster risk mitigation. These are important
objectives for the destination to establish a reputation for effective disaster
prevention, response and safety and to maintain an unparalled visitor experience.
Cautionary Note:
The challenge in taking a sectoral approach to disaster management (i.e.
for the tourism sector) is in recognizing that this industry does not function
in isolation from other sectors and is intrinsically linked to the broader
therefore, destinations should always include the tourism value chain in the
disaster management organization.
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